Chapter Summaries

Preface

For the large part of Douglas Hofstader's life he has been interested in the underpinnings of consciousness. When his sister, Molly, was born with an unnamed neurological disorder, he became fascinated by the brain, neuroscience and the basic physical aspects of what makes up a person's sense of self. From an early age he realized that it is a minds ability to look into itself that helps to make it what it is. This act of self-referencing is called a "strange loop". Hofstader's first book, Gödel, Escher, Bach, contained some early attempts at explaining this.